[instrumental music playing]

Speaker 1: OTAN, Outreach and Technical Assistance Network.

Anthony Burik: OK. Hello, everyone. Anthony Burik, OTAN Project Specialist. Welcome to my session today, "Helping Individuals Acquire Digital Literacy Skills." We're so excited to see you here today, and at the bottom of this slide, and, actually, the bottom of the next slide, I do have a link to some resources that I want to share with you from today's session, a copy of these slides, and also a Notes document that we're going to be using later on as we get into the session. It is a bit.ly address, bit.ly/TDLS22dig-- D-I-G-- lit-- L-I-T-- folder. It is case sensitive, so make sure you're typing it exactly as you see it, and then hopefully that will bring you to the folder and you can get my resources for today.

So here's our agenda for today's session. We're going to be together for about 90 minutes or so, maybe 80 at this point. So, first, I wanted to just give you all a definition of digital literacy, kind of our starting point, like, how do people define digital literacy, what's kind of our common understanding of what digital literacy is? I'm going to talk about a newish digital literacy framework called the "Seattle Digital Skills Framework." The framework is divided into 10 domains, so we'll take a look at those domains, what are the contents of those domains, and kind of get a basic understanding of how the framework is organized, and then I want us to take a look at some resources, digital literacy resources that you might consider using as a part of your instruction to work on or address certain digital literacy skills that you want your students, or your clients, or your colleagues to be aware of, and be practicing, and getting to know back at your schools, back at your agencies, things like that.

And then, also, I want us to also think about in a larger sense, how do we really start integrating these resources into our instruction, into our practice, into our ways of doing things. The last two years have basically been an exercise in integrating digital literacy skills into our lives. I'm not sure we were all prepared for that two years ago, but here we are, and so we certainly ourselves have had a lot of practice trying to figure out how to integrate technology, and digital skills, and digital life into our lives. So I want us to think about how do we do that kind of in an instructional sense, in a workplace sense, back at our agencies, and, again, there's the link, again, for the resources for today's session.

So just a word about OTAN, if you're not familiar with us. So we are very lucky, in the state of California, , to have three state leadership projects that service adult education and adult educators around the state. So, hopefully, you're familiar with all three. Cal Pro is one, CASAS is the second, and OTAN is the third, and OTAN focuses on technology training for educators around the state, so, in addition to TDLS, our three-day annual state conference, we do a lot of other things to help adult educators integrate technology into their practice. So please make sure to reach out to us. I mean, we are so happy to talk about how to do that back at your agencies. We are available for trainings. We go to conferences. We do all kinds of things. So, yes, please, if you don't already know us and are working with us, please reach out and we are happy to work with you.

OK. So let's start off with kind of talking about what is digital literacy, like, what is our understanding of digital literacy? So, you know, I think, when you start talking to folks about digital literacy, it's pretty apparent, or it becomes apparent, that sometimes we have different understandings of what digital literacy means. So, you know, something that's very typical at adult education agencies is kind of an introduction to computers course, or an introduction to technology course, or a technology orientation, something to that effect, and so, on the screen here, I've actually included part of a flyer that I saw recently from an adult school, you know, talking about some of the classes that the school is offering that are going to help students get started with their digital ability, so, you know, very typical classes, introduction to keyboarding, or introduction to typing, introduction to computers, introduction to Word, Excel, things like that.

And, sometimes, when I talk with folks, this is kind of what their understanding of digital literacy is, right? It's that kind of basic orientation, that basic understanding of computers and things like that, and that's not to say that that's not a part of digital literacy, but I think, when we think about the possibilities, and really, like I say, kind of our experience over the last couple of years, we really need to think about digital literacy in a much broader sense. So this is sort of the starting point, perhaps, but we really want to be able to expand our understanding of what digital literacy is, because we really want to think about it from the student's point of view, right? So what is it that students are going to need in order to be successful workers, and students, and parents, and community members, and citizens, and things like that, and how does digital literacy match up with those different roles that we play in society?

So this is a definition of digital literacy from the American Library Association, and some of you may be familiar with this. It's been around for about 10 years or so. So it's got some legs underneath it, and I think a lot of people will come back to this definition of digital literacy as sort of a starting point. So I've taken the definition and kind of divided it up into parts here. It doesn't normally look like this. It looks like just one sentence, but I kind of broke it up, because I think it helps me sort of look at the complexity of digital literacy. So the first is "Digital literacy is the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information requiring both cognitive and technical skills."

So, again, if we look at the different parts here the first part, the "information and communication technologies," so it's not just, like, one thing. Like, in that introduction to Microsoft Word course, like, it's not just Microsoft Word, or Excel, or knowing the pieces of the computer, or things like that. Like, it's a whole bunch of different kinds of technologies, so that's one component. The next is, like, all of the different things that, once we're more digitally literate, we're going to be able to do, so "finding, evaluating, creating, and communicating information," but also a lot of other things as well. And that this is something that "requires both cognitive and technical skills." So, sometimes, we think about it in a very sort of technical sense, like, OK, how do I do this? How do I turn on the computer? How do I create a Word document? But there's also all the cognitive going on, right? So it's really kind of understanding, like, what is this technology-- like, not only, what can I do with this technology, how does it work, but sort of, like, how can I take this out into the world with me, right?

So, if I understand how to fill out a form, for example, like a Google form, or a Microsoft form, then that really sort of opens up the possibilities for people, right? They can feel more confident, like, applying for a job online, because they're going to be filling out a form, maybe financial documents or bank documents, maybe for their child's school, you know, the forms that the school is sending to the parents for meetings, or permissions, or whatever the case may be. So if they have that kind of cognitive understanding of completing a form, and what that means, and where it might appear in their lives, then that's really going to expand their digital literacy ability. OK?

So kind of moving on from that basic definition, kind of expanding it some more, so, looking at some of the work that the NDIA has done, National Digital Inclusion Alliance has done, they actually have sort of five components of what makes up a digitally literate person, so let's look at those one by one. So the first is a digitally literate person "possesses the variety of skills, technical and cognitive, required to fine understand, evaluate, create, and communicate digital information in a wide variety of formats." This is very much what we just saw in the ALA definition, kind of said in a different way, but, again, it's only one component, OK?

The next component, a person "is able to use diverse technologies appropriately and effectively to retrieve information, interpret results, and judge the quality of that information." So there's very much and a focus on information. We are in the information revolution. We've moved on-- Well, I don't know if we've moved on from the industrial, but we're pretty much in the information revolution at this point. So, you know, being able to work with information really has a key place in our current world.

The third component, a digitally literate person "understands the relationship between technology, lifelong learning, personal privacy, and stewardship of information." These are pretty big topics, and to really understand the relationship between all of these topics is, again, another component of being digitally literate. You know, looking at the personal privacy issue, you know, especially, like, the use of data, you know, big companies have our data, so how are they using that data? What is the ethics of that data use? I mean, this is a pretty big topic. But a digitally literate person sort of has a basic understanding of that issue and can begin to think about, like, what that looks like.

A digitally literate person "uses these skills"-- so the ones that we just mentioned in the first three components-- "and the appropriate technology to communicate and collaborate with peers, colleagues, families, and on occasion the, general public." And so I think we really see, especially maybe not so much in 2020 and 2021, but definitely in 2022, to the use of technology to communicate and collaborate with people, right? Think about social media, for example. You know, this is really something that a digitally literate person will have a pretty good understanding of.

And then, finally, this person "uses these skills to actively participate in civic society and contribute to a vibrant, informed, and engaged community." And we always hope that this person will do these things for the good of civic society, the good of humanity. Not always the case, but, really, that's kind of the hope in terms of being able to be a digitally literate person and use technology, really, for the benefit of themselves and their larger communities.

So I do think, you know, looking at the definition and the components really gives us an opportunity to take a look in the mirror and think for ourselves. Like, OK, based on what I just thought what I just saw, and my kind of understanding of what digital literacy is, do I feel like I'm a digitally literate person for myself, and this is really an important in question for all of us when we're working with students and clients in our communities, because we're being asked to bring our ability into the classroom, into the school, into the community centers, and help people out and teach people. So how much do we know, and how much do we feel comfortable doing with technology?

And some of you were at the keynote yesterday with Leslie Fisher, when she was talking about some of the future things coming up in technology, and the whole virtual reality, for example, and AI, artificial intelligence, and things like that, and I really feel like I just don't have a handle on that at all, right? So I know for myself, even though I work for OTAN and I think about technology a lot, like, I also know, like, I have a lot of learning to do as well when it comes to digital literacy. So I'm hoping that we're all sort of starting to think about digital literacy in a much broader sense, and that it's not really just a couple of things, but it's really, like, a lot of things that we want to be able to do.

So what I'd like you to do now is I'm going to have you fill out a survey here in a second, but I'd like you to think about a challenge, a digital literacy challenge that your students, or your colleagues, or folks in your community are currently facing. Like, what is something that you find that some of these folks are really struggling with when it comes to technology, and I want you to kind of think about that very specifically. Like, what is that specific challenge that they're facing right now?

So what I'd like to do is actually take a quick survey here. I'm going to go ahead and also pop the link to the survey in the chat so you can get to it much easier. Let me go ahead and stop sharing, and what I'm going to do is I'm going to open up the form here. This is always a challenge for me, a test of my digital literacy ability here. There we go. OK. I'm going to share my screen. Hopefully you're able to get to the survey.

OK. So, if you're able to get to the survey, it should look something like this, TDLS 2022, Acquiring Digital Literacy Skills. I'm using a Microsoft form to create this survey. I know a lot of folks use Google Forms as part of the Google edu suite. I'm actually using a Microsoft form. It's very similar to a Google form. One nice thing that I like about Microsoft Forms is some of you are familiar, in Microsoft, with this tool called "Immersive Reader," and if you turn on the Immersive Reader, what this allows you to do is actually listen to the words being spoken as you're reading the text. So this is a really good feature in Microsoft apps, especially, like, for ESL students, or sometimes for your ABE students who are still kind of struggling with the language initially, so you might consider using a Microsoft form, you know, especially if you have those student populations, so that, if they're having trouble with the reading, it gives them another way into the form, into the information.

OK, and it looks like folks are starting to complete the survey, so I appreciate that. Thank you so much. Again, if you're using Google Forms regularly, or Microsoft Forms, you know that it's a dynamic form, so we're getting information in real time here. So folks are completing the form. Yeah, automatically, it's updating, so it looks like we have some administrators in the room. Welcome. No teachers. That's OK. All right, interesting. Well, no teachers at the moment anyway. OK. There's our first teacher. Welcome. Classified folks, welcome. I'm always interested to know about the others. What are the others doing? Are you, like, librarians? Are you counselors? Are you community folks? If you want to pop that in the chat, that'd be great.

OK. Folks are completing the form. Thank you so much. What's your problem area, or work area? So it looks like we have ESL folks in the room. Good. We have classified folks, office staff, administrative staff. Great. High school, ABE, ASE. Perfect. Other, again. Nice. OK. Good. All right. So I was just curious kind of how people sort of rate your own tech proficiency, so on a scale from one to four, one being beginner level, four being tech expert at your school, so right about three, three out of four. So, yeah, pretty good. Still some room for growth. OK. Nice.

All right. And then let's look at some of the challenges that are coming in and what y'all are working on. OK. So, for folks who are working in corrections, right, students have never had access to technology. I mean, it's not even that they don't know how to use it. Like, they don't even have access to it. OK. Getting used to online learning. OK. Good. Being able to collaborate, share information, interact with others. OK, that collaborative piece, the collaboration and communication. Yeah, lacking a basic understanding of what they're doing, right? So, OK, very good. One-on-one help, like, tech support, understanding browsers, online, whether it's a cloud, how to navigate use of Google, use of tools, shared devices, knowing that they can succeed, right? In the beginning everything is daunting, right, so are they able to kind of overcome those cognitive and intellectual hurdles, right? Online learning, lack of access, lack of Wi-Fi, lack of devices, slow internet, registering online. OK. Good. So, nice.

Thank you so much. Yeah, we have a nice mix of challenges, and, good, I'm glad. This really, really reflects the sort of the real variety of components of digital literacy. Like, there's all kinds of things that we're struggling with in terms of technology, and we're also aware of what those challenges are, right, and so that's kind of a place for us to think about how do we get started addressing those challenges back at our agencies.

OK. So, moving on, I want to talk some about this relatively new framework digital skills framework called the "Seattle Digital Skills Framework," and it's from about, like, 2019 or so, 2019, 2020, so it's within the last few years. An important note about this framework is that the people who put this framework together, they actually didn't start from scratch. They didn't say, like, OK, let's start from the beginning, let's think about all the different digital skills that folks need to have, and then sort of build the framework from there.

What they did was they actually looked at six other digital literacy frameworks and nine other digital literacy curricula, and, basically, what they did was they looked at what were the commonalities across these frameworks and curricula, and repeatedly, what were the skills that really kind of stood out? What were the ones that were always mentioned by the frameworks, or mostly mentioned by the frameworks? And so what they did was they compiled that kind of raw data, as it were, and then they sort of reorganized those skills into the 10 domains that we're going to take a look at here briefly. So, again, just to know that, like, they really meant to sort of build on the work that people have already been doing in terms of looking at digital skills, digital literacy, digital ability, things like that, and really, like, in essence, sort of create a list of priorities. Like, what are the skills that people are always talking about that our students need, or our clients need, or things like that?

OK, so let's look at these domains one by one. I'm presenting the domains to you like they are in the framework alphabetically, so it's not from, like, least important to most important. This is just the 10 domains that are going to come at you alphabetically, so let's take a look at them. So the first one, communication, so, basically, exchanging information with others on digital platforms, using various strategies to collaborate, share, and communicate, and you'll see in this domain that there are eight items in the domain. Some of the ones that stand out are using social media, being able to collaborate with using technology, and communicate with others.

The next domain is creation. This is engaging in digital spaces to design, create, and revise content online. So a couple of the eight items in this domain include coding, building a website, reusing digital content, and others. The next domain is device ownership. These are practices that support device longevity, including physical care, protective software, and using tech support. Four items in this domain. Again, the one that kind of stands out is really this tech support issue.

The next domain is essential foundations. And so I would say that, probably, you know, there are some folks who really kind of equate digital literacy with essential foundations, but it's really only one domain in the framework. These are the foundational skills required to use a device and participate online, so, you know, being able to set up an email account, understanding the components of your computer, using a mouse, some basic internet search.

The next domain is information skills. These are skills to apply, evaluate, and manage information across digital and physical environments. There are seven items in this domain, and, again, this really kind of focuses on those information skills that we feel are really important in our current age. The next domain is lifelong learning. This is engagement and self-assessment of digital skills using self-reflection to tailor accessible digital environments and continue digital skills learning. There are three items in this domain, and one of them that stands out for me is being able to adapt to new technology. So, definitely, the last two years, if nothing else, have been a trial in adapting to new technology in all its various shapes and forms.

The next domain is mobile, understanding basic functions of a mobile device to communicate and access goods and services. So think about using mobile apps, being able to use your device for any number of parts of your life. The next domain is online life, access to online resources that support digitalization of daily tasks and socialization within a broader digital community. There are 11 items in this domain. A lot of these have to do with sort of your role as a member of a community or society, so, for example, being able to find community resources, transportation tools, entertainment, being a good online citizen, watching your language online, all that kind of stuff.

The next domain is privacy and security. This is the maintenance of practices to secure digital identity, recognize threats, and understand the broader safety implications of working in a digital environment. There are seven items in this domain. A lot of this has to do with privacy, your data being online, how do you keep your kids safe, how do you keep the other adults that you know safe online, any kind of threats coming from online, how to recognize them, how to deal with them.

And then the last domain is the workplace domain, advancing workplace success and professionalism through engagement with an organization's online tools and other supportive digital systems. I do think these nine workplace items in this domain, really, these are very key for us in adult education because of the importance of getting our students into the workforce, transitioning them from secondary, post-secondary studies into the workplace, things like that, and then, once they're in the workplace, being able to be good employees and workers, and knowing how to use technology in a workplace setting.

OK. So that was, like, a quick run-through of the 10 domains of the framework. So what I'm going to do is, if you didn't have a chance to get the resources in the folder, I'm sharing the link to my resources again in the chat, if you came into the room late or whatever. What I'd like us to do for a couple of minutes here is for all of you to kind of take another run through the framework and, again, kind of get a general understanding of those 10 domains, and then what I'd like you to do is to find the domain in which the skill you identified in your survey is mentioned. So where in the framework can you kind of place or locate that digital skill challenge that you're working with back at your agency?

And then, while you're there, I also want you to kind of just notice the other skills that are mentioned in the domain. So, for example, let's say you're having a challenge with your students getting them email addresses. You want them to have email so that stay you can stay connected with them, they can stay connected with the school, things like that. So, again, if that challenge is about email, then I think the domain that is probably the most appropriate here is the essential foundations domain. And so, if you look down the list here, at item number eight, there's get an email account, so setting up an email account. That's probably a good starting point. But then think about the other skills that are mentioned in this domain that relate to that. So, for example, once you get an email account, you'll want to know about how to send and receive email. You'll also want to know about creating safe passwords, right, because, when you set up that account, and any online account, for that matter-- so that's kind of this cognitive understanding of technology-- you're going to want to have a safe password, right, so you protect your online information.

And then, if you're working on understanding the internet, you know, when you get online, and you start working online, we all kind of know this, but maybe our students don't always know this, you know, you really need to bring that email information with you into the online setting, right? Maybe you're going to be setting up an online account for your bank, or maybe you're going to be setting up an online account for the school, or maybe you're going to be setting up an online account at your favorite clothing store, for example. So it's not just setting up an email account. Like, it's what happens after that. Like, what are the related skills that go along with setting up an email account?

OK. Hopefully you've had a chance to take a look at that. Actually, let me just stop my share for a second-- Actually, let me do this. OK. So I just want to make sure that you can see the two documents that I'm referring to. So hopefully you have my slides. And then the other document-- I believe it's this one. So this is the Notes document that I've shared with you in the folder. So, when we talk about the framework, if you scroll down to the top of page two-- so here's a link to that framework. It's actually the second bullet under "Seattle Digital Literacy Framework." You can go ahead and open that up and you'll actually get a copy of the framework yourself. It's a Google Doc, so you actually can make a copy and save it to your Drive if you would like, and if you're looking for sort of the background on the framework, I've also included or a link to the original report. You can read about their methodology and how they actually came up with the framework, but I want to make sure folks are able to get to this document.

OK. So let me go back to the slides here. So I'd like for us, if you can use your Zoom annotate tool, if you know how to do that, so if you're looking at your Zoom toolbar, it's kind of on the right-ish side of your toolbar, it says "annotate"-- there's a little pencil icon-- so if you can go ahead and open up your Zoom annotate tool, and if you're not very familiar with annotate, I would recommend the stamp feature, so go ahead and select one of the stamps, and if you can, can you go ahead and stamp the domain where your challenge lies, if you're able to do that? OK. So I see people are getting it.

OK. So, again, if you can stamp the domain where your challenge lies, so, on the screen, you should see a chart with the 10 domains, and then if you open up your Zoom annotate tool-- so it's on your toolbar. Click on annotate. It's going to open up a separate kind of toolbar of options. One of the options is "stamp." If you click on "stamp," you should be able to stamp your screen. Nothing says "annotate."

Jacquelyn Ellis: Yeah, Anthony, I don't see anything that says "annotate" on my toolbar either for some reason.

Anthony Burik: OK. Where you might look is at the far right of your toolbar, it says "more," with three dots. Click on that "more" option, if you see it, and it might be there.

Jacquelyn Ellis: I don't have "more."

Anthony Burik: OK. So one other place that it might be is, if you are looking-- Oh, OK. Sorry, I'm looking at my toolbar, not your toolbar. That's right.

Jacquelyn Ellis: Oh, that's right.

Anthony Burik: Sorry, I was looking down. Up at the top, where it says "options," or "view options," click on that, and there's "annotate."

Jacquelyn Ellis: That's it. Now I've got it. Thank you.

Anthony Burik: Yeah, you can tell that I'm rusty with my use of the "annotate" tool.

Jacquelyn Ellis: That's all right.

Anthony Burik: OK. So I'll give you a second for those of you whom I gave the wrong instructions to. OK. So let's see what's rising to the top here. Good. So it looks like, again, we kind of have a mix of domains that are-- oops, that's fine. So it looks like a number of domains. Good. So a lot of-- not a lot, but a number of essential foundations, stamps, also device ownership stamps. Also, we see information scales. We see lifelong learning. We see privacy and security. OK. Good. Good, good, good. OK. So, again, good.

Yeah, again, so this is kind of a nice sort of visual representation of the variety of domains that we're thinking about when we're thinking about the digital skills that we need to work on with our students and our clients. So, again, I hope, again, you have that sense of sort of the full breadth of digital literacy and what we're really talking about. We're not just talking about a couple of things. We're talking about a lot of things that we want our students to be able to do. OK. Thank you so much for doing this. I'm actually going to go ahead and clear this, and you can go ahead and close your annotate, and then let's move on.

OK. All right. So we have a challenge, a digital literacy challenge that we're thinking about, and we kind of have a sense, in this skills framework, like, where does that challenge lie, and then maybe some of the other skills that might go along with that challenge as well, or maybe these other skills actually help us kind of fill out our understanding of the challenge. Like, it's not just getting an email account, but then it's like, OK, what do I do with this, how do I use it, how can I use it in other settings, for example.

OK. So we have a sense of a challenge. We have a sense of where it's going to fall in this domain. So let's start thinking about, OK, how are we going to address this? What are we going to bring to the classroom? What are we going to bring to our schools? What are we going to bring to our communities that's going to help our students and our clients really start acquiring these digital literacy skills that they want to get, that they need to get, that are going to help them in their lives?

So, back on the Notes document, right under that digital skills framework section, the next section has to do with a set of digital literacy websites that include resources that you can use to do the instruction, and the teaching, and the training that you're going to do with others. And it's a little subjective but the list I have there sort of goes from what I would consider to be some more of the kind of basic skills. Like, there's essential foundation skills, kind of moving down the list, into the more advanced skills and topics.

So, if you're looking at your Notes document, this is what we're looking at here at the moment. So, again, towards the top, I would say kind of the more basic skills, so, like, if it's even, like, basic vocabulary, like, the components of your computer, and devices, and peripherals, and things like that. If it's typing, like, a lot of students aren't very good typists, so maybe they need typing practice. And then kind of in that middle part of the list there, GCFLearnFree, DigitalLearn, Northstar, TechBoomers, some of you are already familiar with these sites, but these are really good, like, foundational sites. Like, a lot of those skills are covered by these sites in particular.

When you get towards the bottom of the list here, the 21Things4Students, the Basic Computer Skills MOOC, Learn My Way, Google Applied Digital Skills, now we're talking about skills that are a little bit more complex, right, so it's not necessarily foundational skills. It's really you have those foundational skills, and now we're on to the next things, the more complex digital skills training. So that's basically how it's organized. There's a bit of overlap, but I would say that this set of sites is a really good place to start. And, again, you might be familiar with a couple of these sites, but there are other sites that are out there, and hopefully you'll have a chance to take a look at these sites and really kind of dig into them.

OK. So we're going to try another activity here. Let's see how this goes. OK. So what I would like you to do is choose one of the websites from the list, and I'd like you to see if there are any resources, any materials that you might consider using when you are wanting to address this digital skills challenge, OK? And in the folder, there is that TDLS worksheet, digital literacy worksheet, so that's what we're going to try to use here. So what I'd like you to do is, on one of the rows-- go ahead and pick a row-- is you're going to add the domain, so one of the 10 domains from the framework, you're going to add the skill, and then you're going to link to a resource, OK? And so let's do an example so I can show you what we're talking about here.

So I'm going to-- oops. Sorry about that. I'm going to go back here and stop my PowerPoint. OK. I'm going to switch over to the folder here. OK. This is my view of the folder, but if you're looking at the folder, you should see these three files in there, so my PowerPoint, my Notes, and then this worksheet. So if everybody can open up the worksheet. Now, if you're used to, like, Google Docs, this is a little bit clunky. Sorry, Microsoft. Good with some things, not good with others. So I think I've already enabled this. Oh, it looks like some of you were already there. Fantastic. OK.

I believe, when you first come into the file, take a look up here in the upper left-hand corner, and it actually asks you to open this Word document, OK? And I believe that one of the options it will give you is to open in a browser. I would recommend that one, and then, once you open up the Word document-- probably, you want to open it in a browser-- then you should be able to join this worksheet, and then we can do some work here. So what I'm suggesting as an activity-- again, this is a challenge for all of us and our digital literacy ability, but this is what-- Oh, I'm still in my annotate. That's fine. OK.

So here's what I'm suggesting. So pick a row. Let's say it's in the essential foundations domain, and it's setting up an email account. I know that this is a real this is a challenge that I'm currently facing with my students and my class. OK. Then I have the list of-- Let me go back here. I'm going to look at this Notes document again. So we're doing a bit of multitasking here. It doesn't have a preview. Oh, I need to open it. Just a second. OK.

So what I'm suggesting here for the activity is, on page two of the Notes, if you can take a look at this part, this digital literacy resources part of the Notes document, so I'm going to take a look at this website called GCFLearnFree. I've heard about it. Some of my colleagues back at my agency have used it before. I haven't really used it myself. I'm going to take a look at it and see what's up. And so, again, the challenge that I'm trying to address with my students is the email accounts, right? So let's see, does GCFLearnFree have anything about email and using email, setting up email, things like that? I'm going to take a look at the topics menu, and GCF learn free-- oh, wow, there's actually quite a bit here, right, a lot of technology resources. Oh, look at this. In fact, they actually have something about email, so let's take a look at that.

And on the GCFLearnFree-- OK, email. "Use our free email basics tutorials to learn the essentials of creating and maintaining email accounts so you can communicate online." OK. So let's see what else they've got here. They've got basics, they've got Gmail, and then beyond email. So, probably, if it's getting students set up with email, I'm probably going to want to take a look and see what they've got here, right, , and maybe we need to go back to even just sort of an introduction to email, like, what is email, how does it work, features of email, things like that, OK? So this one looks pretty good.

So what I'm going to do is I'm going to copy this link and I'm going to go back to that worksheet. I'm going to go ahead and paste it in the resource column. OK. Now I have a resource that I can use, potentially, back with my students. Here's one place, maybe, we can get started with helping students understand how to set up an email account, OK? So let's give the room a couple of minutes here. Try that out. See how that goes for you. I'm hoping we can sort of collaborate here, build a sort of collaborative document, so if you want to come back and take a look at the resources that folks have shared, maybe it'll save you a little bit of work.

And let me know if you have questions about that, what we're working on at the moment. I'm going to take a look at the chat while you're doing that. Let me just see if you have any questions or anything. Yeah, if you have any questions or comments, go ahead and add them to the chat as we're working, or any questions about what we're doing right now, or what you're attempting to do. Maybe taking a minute or two to kind of just look at that framework again, take a look at some of the sites, GCFLearnFree or the Northstar sites. Good.

A lot of people, the majority, are the essential foundations. We have one for mobile as well. OK, good. Yeah, let me know if you have any questions, or comments, or thoughts so far about what we've covered. We're giving it a try. Maybe you're still sleepy from your lunch. Maybe you're checking your email. No judgment. No judgment here. Let's see what's going on up here. Oh, interesting, I don't know this, amazonaws. OK. Good, good, good. OK. Yeah, link to a Learning Chocolate. Yeah, good. Again, some of those basic computer skills and basic kind of understanding of computers and things like that. OK. Understanding my computer, using the mouse. Good. If some of you are having trouble, you might still have your annotate toolbar active, so you do need to close that, and then, once you close that, then you should be able to type in the document, if you're having trouble getting into the document. OK.

Yeah, Dominique, so just an answer to your question, so we do recommend, during TDLS, that you have the most current version of Zoom on your devices. That may be the issue. If you have an older version of Zoom, then you may not see some of the things that other folks are seeing in their Zoom, or you might not be able to do some of the things that other folks are able to do. So, yeah, just make sure you have the most current version of Zoom on your device. I think that's probably the issue there. OK, good. OK, good. Yeah, nice.

We're getting a variety of resources as well, so from the LINCS site. For those of you who aren't familiar with LINCS, LINCS is actually a nationwide resource for adult educators. They have a really robust website with a lot of things on it, so I think, actually, LINCS is mentioned in the next set, but LINCS is a great site to check out as well for lots of resources, so-- OK. Lots of GCFLearnFree. Yeah, GCFLearnFree is a really great site, a lot of basic stuff. OK. Northstar, perfect. Good. Learning Chocolate. Good, good, good. OK.

And I would say, after today, these are really good sites to keep exploring if you're not very familiar with them. They have a lot of resources. You know, what I'm trying to do here is kind of give you a set of resources to start with, rather than having to sort of, like, just go out on your own onto the wild, wild internet, wild, wild web, you know, trying to kind of keep your search focused. Good. 21 things for students. Good, good, good. OK, good. OK. All right, so, good.

So I think we have an idea here that, in terms of starting to think about how do we bring resources to bear to address the challenges that our students have, or our clients have, or our community members have, or even our colleagues, maybe, back at our agencies, you know, we've all kind of learned different things over the last couple of years. You know, some folks have a better handle on the technology. Some folks are still kind of struggling a bit, but maybe there are some good resources here to use with your colleagues as well. OK.

So I'm going to have folks finish up that activity as you will. Meanwhile, what I'm going to do is I'm going to go back to the presentation, because I do want to put you in breakouts for a few minutes, just to kind of connect with people, share a few ideas here and there. OK, good. So we've done our example. Oh, I think I'm a few steps ahead. One second. OK. OK. So, on the Notes document, then, at the very bottom of the page two, I've also included a list of resources that are really more on the instructional end of things here.

OK, so I have some resources, I've seen some materials, I have some online information that I can use in my classroom, share with my students, things like that, but how do I start, like, putting all of this together into instruction, and also really kind of putting together the content that I'm teaching with, also, how do I bring technology to bear on the content that I'm teaching, right? How do I kind of weave these things together?

So I've also included a list of some instructional resources that you might take a look at. So, of course, please visit the OTAN website-- shameless plug-- and the second bullet, some of the resources that we just talked about a few minutes ago, also have kind of a dedicated teacher space, or instructor space, or tutor space, so you might take a look at how those websites actually give you some ideas about how to use these resources with your students, how you might kind of set up your instruction. I talked about LINCS a minute ago. There's also Teaching Skills That Matter. There's NDIA again, Digital Promise is another organization.

And then, actually, a number of states also have also kind of either created something for in-state or are in the process of doing so. Actually, in California, we're working on something similar to the Maryland resources that you see listed here, so we want to create sort of a digital implementation guide for adult educators in California. Hopefully, that will be out by late spring, early summer, so I know it's a kind of a tight timeline, but I know a lot of folks are working on that, so we definitely will announce that when that comes up. But there are resources out there, instructional resources, that can really help you think about how do I start putting all of these pieces together, so I'm really helping my students with the instruction, or the training, really get the training that they need to build up their skills.

OK. Here's our last activity of the session. So what I'd like you to do is I'm going to open up the breakout rooms, and you are free to join any of the 10 breakout rooms. There are 10 rooms. They correspond with the domains. So what I'd like you to do is, in the breakout room, if one or two people could offer to facilitate, and I'd like you to think about these questions as your prompt, so maybe talk about what you're already doing at your agency to teach some of these digital literacy skills, or with some of the new resources that we've been exploring so far, how might you start using these resources in your instruction, and not just, like, if you're teaching a computer class, although that's one option, but maybe in your ESL class or in your CTE class, like, how, do we start integrating these resources into our instruction, OK?

So what I'm going to do now is I'm going to open up the breakout rooms. I'm going to open the rooms. OK. So you should see a list of the 10 rooms, if you click on-- let me just make sure. Yes, at the bottom of your screen, not the top, the bottom, you should now see a breakout rooms icon. Go ahead and click on that icon, and then you'll see the rooms. There are 10 of them. They correspond with the domains. At the far right of a listed item, you should see the word "join," so if you hover over "join," it's clickable, so then you can go ahead and join that room. So go ahead and join one of the rooms.

So I hope you had good discussions in the breakout rooms. Thanks for doing that. We still have about 10 minutes or so before we close up today. I'm wondering, it looked like folks basically separated themselves into two rooms. One was the essential foundations room, and then a second was, I think, the lifelong learning room, so I'm wondering if maybe if those two groups could just share, maybe, two or three great tools that you would like to share with the rest of us, that'd be great, or tools, ideas, thoughts, comments, anything like that. So I will open up the floor for anybody who wants to come on mic, share with us what they learned, with what you all talked about. Don't be shy.